Events

On October 5, 2013, Night Train ran its first open-water swimming event that was open to the public. The Night Train Splash & Dash was a 1 mile swim from Sam’s Anchor Cafe to Ayala Cove followed by a 5 mile run around the perimeter of Angel Island. With approximately 50 participants, the event raised $5,000 for the Night Train Youth Swim Program in Marin City, and was a great time for everyone.

Kathy Winkler was first overall, and Nolan Koon was the first male finisher.

On September 23, 2012, six swimmers began swimming under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, aiming to swim some 339 miles down the Pacific Coast to finish at Santa Barbara, California. The event was a co-fundraiser for Night Train Swimmers and Semper Fi Fund, which provides financial support for injured and critically ill members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families.

After swimming approximately 150 miles over 5 days, the swim was aborted due to unsafe sea conditions and an over-abundance of venomous jellyfish in the waters that were attacking the swimmers. The fundraiser was a smashing success, raising over $1 million for Semper Fi Fund, and providing enough support to expand Night Train’s pilot program in Marin City to a full implementation in 2013. A video recap of the swim is available at the link below.

On May 20, a new record was set when a team of six swimmers completed a non-stop relay from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Farallon Islands, approximately 30 miles offshore. With the average water temperature around 52 degrees, the swimmers battled hypothermia, rough sea conditions, and of course the knowledge of the types of aquatic wildlife found in the Red Triangle. The team set a new record for the relay crossing at 14 hours 45 minutes.

At a time when political relations between Mexico and the United States were strained by border-related issues, a team of six swimmers came together to support neighborly relations and break a world record. On September 24, 3 swimmers from Mexico and 3 from the United States began a non-stop relay swim in Lake Powell that broke the world open-water relay record for lake swimming – covering 118 miles in 55 hours 20 minutes.

The swim benefited two charities: Wounded Warrior Project in the United States, and Por Ellas in Mexico. At a time when many people on both sides were pointing fingers and talking politics, this team of six – and the very supportive community in Arizona – showed just what we can accomplish when we work together.

Donate Now

At Night Train Swimmers, we believe that every child should be water safe. Your donations help provide swimming lessons to at-risk youth in local coastal communities – where children live a stone’s throw from water but do not otherwise have access to water safety instruction.